Grand Mercure Ambassador Hotel and Residences Seoul Yongsan 5 stars

Very satisfied with the stay Room with minor areas that requires upkeeping, otherwise good Room card should be replaced with plastic ones so that they do not get wet during trips to the pool Clear instructions for use of sauna would be appreciated for tourists who are not sure about the sauna culture in South Korea

Our stay in this room was flawless! From the moment we entered, we were delighted by every aspect of it. The bed and pillows provided an exceptionally comfortable night's sleep, and the view from the room was breathtaking. I could even catch a glimpse of Namsan Tower while indulging in a refreshing rain shower in the bathroom. They also organised a cake for our anniversary celebration which was very thoughtful! The staff at this establishment were courteous and incredibly efficient, making our experience even more enjoyable. However, there was one minor issue that we encountered during our stay. When our room was serviced, it appeared that the leftover plates and trays from the previous day's room service were not cleaned up. Despite this slight hiccup, the overall experience was outstanding. We would return to this hotel in the future, as the exceptional comfort, stunning views, and friendly staff far outweighed this inconvenience.

This was my first stay at the Grand Mercure Ambassador Hotel and Residences Seoul Yongsan and the stay was well above my already high expectations. The hotel environment, room, location and staff were all a very pleasant surprise to me. The hotel is only 6 years old and I feel it is often overlooked as an option for those visiting Seoul as most of the visitors coming to Korea tend to focus on the US-based hotel chains. The location is perfect. It's only a few minutes cab ride to downtown Seoul, where most of the business headquarters and tourist attractions are located. The Youido financial district opposite downtown Seoul is only a 5 minute car ride away while Kangnam is about 15 minutes. The connection to the IPark Shopping Mall and Yongsan Station made for an exceptionally convenient stay. It’s only a 5 minute walk and connected via a dedicated walkway Furthermore, there is never any traffic on the main road leading to the hotel entrance so there is less stress vs the locations of other popular hotels in Seoul. For those that want some entertainment, there's also a casino within the hotel complex. You can also venture to the tons of local eateries located on both sides of the hotel. These venues provide almost all types of Korean cuisine, ranging from the local outdoor drinking tents, barbecue grills, seafood and more. The Yongsan area, where the hotel is located, is emerging into a central part of Seoul and has endless shopping, eating and entertainment within 5-10 minutes walk from the hotel. I stayed in the smallest room type (Junior Suite with 1 King Bed) and it was still more than enough space. The room is about 41 square meters but feels much bigger due to the efficient layout and open views (even from the bathroom). There are tons of closet space and shelves, as well as a dining table that doubles as a desk, which makes for a very organized working environment. The desk is situated so you can face the open view of the city while working...and it can be used as a dining table as well with a chair at the opposite side of the table. The view from my room was amazing. I had the north exposure, with unobstructed views of the city and the landmark Namsan Tower. The bathroom is huge and shares the same open views (and can be closed for privacy). There is a full kitchen and laundry machine in the room.....it's just like staying in my own home with all these conveniences. And of course, all this was complemented with an immaculately clean room and hotel facilities. The hotel also has a large Fitness Club that covers 3 floors. There is a large gym, separate GTX room, swimming pool (indoor), stretching room, fitness trainers and huge sauna/shower facilities. I used the gym every day and loved running on the treadmill while looking at the southern views of Seoul. Parking was an ease. The parking lot always had spaces available and the size of the parking slots are the biggest I've seen in Seoul. The Mercure staff were extremely friendly, efficient, anticipated my needs, greeted me whenever I walked thru the lobby and accommodated my special requests. This goes for almost all categories of staff. The reception, concierge, valet parking, housekeeping and management were all great. One example of being on top of their game was the reception staff all knew that I had already booked a future visit when I was arranging to store my luggage for the interim while I was on a domestic trip.I felt like coming home whenever I returned to the hotel. I would like to give special mention to Lena Lee (reception) and Pauline (French lady at reception/concierge). They were the main contact points for my stay and just knowing they're at the hotel made me feel at ease with any special requests or questions. There is also a crucial contact point for me behind the scenes (management staff) who ensured all my bookings and room viewings were completed without issue and very quickly. But there are some areas I'd like to point out, most of which are just related to my personal preferences. First of all, I had a problem with the laundry dryer as it seemed to take forever to dry even a few T-shirts. I ended up hang drying my clothes and for the more urgent items, I actually had to use the blow dryer as I was in a rush and had no pants to wear! (I don't recommend using this method due to the fire risk). I highlighted this to management and they suggested that I have an employee help me the next time as perhaps I used the dryer incorrectly. Another issue I found inconvenient was the in-room safe. It's located in a large drawer and opens upward. The safe door is very heavy so constantly trying to open it or hold it open was quite difficult. I used the safe often as I had alot of organizing to do for the trip but for those of you who use it only once or twice a day, it's not a problem at all. I also found the elevators to be a bit inefficient. The lights would indicate which elevator is coming and suddenly another one behind me opens up and then leaves without me noticing as the beep sounds are very quiet. I had several instances of missing elevators due to this issue. In sum, I really enjoyed my stay at the hotel and recommend it to all types of travelers with different budgets. There are 4 hotels that are connected in the Seoul Dragon City complex. In addition to the Mercure, there is also an IBIS Hotel, Novotel and Novotel Residences. There's a total of 1,200 rooms in Seoul Dragon City so hotel dining, lounging and people watching is endless. The Mercure has its own lobby and is very quiet and small enough to quickly reach the elevators from the entrance. The other hotels have their check-in desks in a huge lobby. I noticed that on weekends the lobbies got quite crowded as that wing of the complex houses most of the rooms. I will definitely be returning to the hotel for future trips. In fact, I'm already back after a short 3-night trip to Jeju Island and I'm staying in the exact same room as my first stay! What better example of anticipating a guest’s needs that this? Truly feels like coming home!

This was my first stay at the Grand Mercure Ambassador Hotel and Residences Seoul Yongsan and the stay was well above my already high expectations. The hotel environment, room, location and staff were all a very pleasant surprise to me. The hotel is only 6 years old and I feel it is often overlooked as an option for those visiting Seoul due to its relatively recent opening and as most of the visitors coming to Korea seem to focus on the US-based hotel chains. There are 4 hotels that are connected in the Seoul Dragon City complex. In addition to the Mercure, there is also an IBIS Hotel, Novotel and Novotel Residences. There's a total of 1,200 rooms in Seoul Dragon City so hotel dining, lounging and people watching is endless. The Mercure has its own lobby and is very quiet and small enough to quickly reach the elevators from the entrance. The other hotels have their check-in desks in a huge lobby. I noticed that on weekends the lobbies got quite crowded as that wing of the complex houses most of the rooms. The location is perfect. It's only a few minutes cab ride to downtown Seoul, where most of the business headquarters and tourist attractions are located. The Youido financial district opposite downtown Seoul is only a 5 minute car ride away while the posh Kangnam district is about 15 minutes. The connection to the IPark Shopping Mall and Yongsan Station made for an exceptionally convenient stay. Yongsan Station is one of two major railway hubs in Seoul for the high-speed KTX train (the other is Seoul Station, only a couple of subway stops away). It’s only a 5 minute walk and connected via a dedicated walkway. Furthermore, there is never any traffic on the main road leading to the hotel entrance so there is less stress vs the locations of other popular hotels in Seoul. For those that want some entertainment, there's also a casino within the hotel complex. You can also venture to the rows of local eateries located on both sides of the hotel. These venues provide almost all type of Korean cuisine, ranging from the local outdoor drinking tents, Korean barbecue and seafood restaurants, and even the common western chains such as Shake Shack, Subway, McDonald’s and more. The Yongsan area, where the hotel is located, is emerging into a central part of Seoul and has shopping for everything (including a massive duty free shop), eating and entertainment within 5-10 minutes walk from the hotel. I stayed in the smallest room type (Junior Suite with 1 King Bed) and it was still more than enough space. The room is about 41 square meters (410 square feet) but feels much bigger due to the efficient layout and open views (even from the bathroom). There are abundant closet space and shelves, as well as a dining table that doubles as a desk, which makes for a very organized working environment. The desk is situated so you can face the open view of the city while working...and it can be used as a dining table as well with a chair at the opposite side of the table. The view from my room was beautiful. I had the north exposure, with unobstructed views of the city and the landmark Namsan Tower. The bathroom is huge and shares the same open views (which can be curtained off for privacy). There is a full kitchen and laundry machine in the room.....it's just like staying at home with all these conveniences. All this was complemented with an immaculately clean room and hotel facilities. The hotel has a large Fitness Club that covers 3 floors. There is a large gym, separate GTX room, swimming pool (indoor), stretching room, fitness trainers and huge sauna/shower facilities. I used the gym every day and loved running on the treadmill while looking at the southern views of also unobstructed. Parking was an ease. The parking lot always had spaces available and the size of the parking slots are the biggest I've seen in Seoul. And, of course, none of the above mean anything without the proper team to take care of the guests. The Mercure staff were extremely friendly, efficient, anticipated my needs, greeted me whenever I walked thru the lobby and accommodated my special requests. This goes for almost all categories of staff - reception, concierge, valet parking, housekeeping and management. One example of being on top of their game was the reception staff all knew that I had already booked a future visit when I was storing my luggage for a few days between stays.I felt like coming home whenever I returned to the hotel. I would like to give special mention to Lena Lee (reception) and Pauline (French lady at reception/concierge). They were my main contact points during while at the hotel. Just knowing they're at the hotel made me feel at ease with any special requests or questions. I also had a contact point behind the scenes who ensured all my bookings and room viewings were completed without issue and very quickly. It may sound like everything's perfect but there are some areas I'd like to point out. First of all, I had a problem with the laundry dryer as it seemed to take forever to dry even a few T-shirts. I ended up hang drying my clothes. I highlighted this to management and they suggested that I have an employee help me the next time as I may have used the dryer incorrectly. Using the washer/dryer and microwave oven can be confusing for non-Korean speakers as all the indicator knobs on the machines are in Korean only. There are English instructions hidden within the room manual but guest services had to tell me where to find it and I didn’t think the explanations were very clear. Another issue I found inconvenient was the in-room safe. It's located in a large drawer and opens upward. The safe door is very heavy so constantly trying to open it or hold it open was quite difficult. I used the safe often as I had alot of organizing to do for my trip. But for those of you who use it only once or twice a day, it's not a problem at all. The smallest room type only comes with a shower but that wasn’t a problem for me. I thought the elevators were inefficient. The lights would indicate which elevator is coming and suddenly another one behind me opens up and then leaves without me noticing as the beep sounds are very quiet. I had several instances of missing elevators due to this issue. In sum, I really enjoyed my stay at the hotel. I travel to Seoul several times a year and will definitely be returning to the hotel for future trips. In fact, I'm already back after a short 3-night domestic trip and I'm staying in the exact same room as my first visit!

The team was extremely professional and pleasant from the moment we set foot in Mercure Hotel. We were always greeted with warm smiles and that lighten the mood after my long day of exploring the city. The room was well maintained and we had a great rest every single night! Looking forward to another stay with Mercure when we return to Korea again.